The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-06
A RUNAWAY TRAIN,
a Soy That Was Panic-Stricken but
Saved the Train.

Saved the Train.
There is story in the June Wide A,Cake
of boy, the 15-year-old son of locomotive
engineer, who had often ridden with his
father and ''knew the engine pooty we'll ~
Indeed the engineer had frequently let the
the boy drive" on long stretch of a
straight track.
One night he left ''Dave" in charge of the
| engine on siding, while he went to supper
as usual. There came up a furious wind,
| and after little some cars shot by without
an engine. The wind had started them.
Boy, think quick! Down grade The
lightning express is to come that wayl
Nobody near. No telegraph wire. The
| trains are headed together. There is less
| than an hour to catch those runaway cars
| and pull them out of the way. No time for
hesitation! He springs to the lever, picks
| up speed and tears away with grade and
wind and steam like a whizzing arrow.
They are miles ahead. The rushing min
| utes are full of sudden comprehension. He
almost sees through the dark, tempestuous
night. What set him flying towards this
plunge was thought of the Lightning Ex-
press. Now danger takes hold of him.
What if he is just too late The runaway
train is in sight! OFF steam! No, on again I!
Let the story teller tell the rest.
He must slow up, but do it SO nicely that,
when he does come up with them, there
| shall be the least possible shock, for here is
the hardest part of the business. He has
| nobody to help him couple" He must be,
for the nonce, both engineer and switchman.
He had not thought what formidable job
this was until it stared him in the face.
On he flew, revolving the situation in his
| head and adjusting his engine with the
| incest care until he was upon the very heels
of the runaway; then, with many misgiv-
ings slipped out of the engine house and
crawled along the side of the locomotive
and down on the ''cow-catcher.n
Here, siezing the long coupler in one hand
and holding on with the other, he stood
watching with breathless interest the APP
preaching collision. The suspense was
agonizing. The situation was perilous. A
gust of wind might sweep him from his
place; he might be shaken off or crushed.
He was almost panic stricken A dozen
times he was at the point of turning back.
To his startled ear the air was full of I'M
canny sounds-the sweep of another lorna
do the rush of the Lightning" just ahead.
But he had in him the stuff which heroes
are made of The hero, remember, is not
he who is insensible to danger, but rather
he who feels and realizes vet overcomes it.
The ''Meteor' drew nearer and nearer the
flying train. Dave had used excellent judg
ment in regulating its speed, for at length
it came up with the rear car with scarcely
a shock, so that Dave could reach over and
dropin the pin.
Then clambering back into the engine
house with trembling eagerness he seized the
throttle" To his amazement the train did
not stop. Instead of the ''Meteor's" stop
ping the runaway, the runaway dragged
| the Meteor" along in its headlong fight.
Dave was horror struck He had thought
th1o tY.oiy cto af 10 boA
calculated what tremendous impetus all
| those heavy ears had acquired.
Now, then, the tussle. The train began
to slow up. 1t came to a standstill. Then
the backward pull Slowly they got under
way, but the wind and up grade was against
| them.
Davy began to get anxious. The 'Light-
ming" must be due by this time. He kept a
sharp lookout behind and whistled like mad
around the curves At length he entered
upon the long, straight level line of road
which extended clear to Blankton. Dave
| breathed freer. 1t was the home-stretch-
good ten-mile run.
| Hardly had he congratulated himself when
| far behind-but unmistakably-he heard
the. scream of the "Lightnings" whistle
| He was going already at his topmost speed:
| He was making not more than thirty-fve
miles an hour, while the Lightning" was
coming on at the rate of sixty. With hor-
ror he heard it gaining on him; the next
whistle was nearer; and at length when he
had made only two-thirds the distance the
| CLEAN of the headlight came shooting round
| a wooded curve in his rear.
Out of the very despair of the moment
Dave gathered calmness. He turned his
back on the pursuing train, he cast no look
behind, he shut his ears to its on-cOming
roar, looked straight ahead, kept his eye on
the track, his mind on his duty.
He is almost there-he is there, he dashes
| past the station house, across the switch and
down at last upon the side track.
1t is all right. Jake and Jim are there.
They have thrown the switch back in time;
and the lightning" goes whining and
shrieking past.
When Jake jumped aboard the Meteor
his son tainted dead away in his arms.